Dairy cows infected with the currently circulating highly pathogenic bird flu in five states have died or been slaughtered by farmers because they did not properly recover.
Information from state-level public health agencies first obtained by Reuters raises questions about the position of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that most infected cattle quickly recover from a bird flu infection.
Reuters reported that cows had been killed in Michigan, Texas, Ohio, South Dakota, and Colorado. The Washington Examiner contacted the Departments of Agriculture for all five states for comment but did not receive a response.
Most of the animals reportedly developed secondary infections following bird flu, becoming more susceptible to other illnesses due to the virus weakening their immune systems.
This particularly virulent strain of bird flu, H5N1, has affected dairy cattle across the country since late March. As of June, more than 80 herds were affected across 10 states, according to the USDA, but there is little data as to the exact number of infected cows.
So far, there have been three dairy workers infected with the virus, two from Michigan. Only one patient has presented with respiratory symptoms. On Wednesday, a man in Mexico died from a similar bird flu virus, H5N2, the first known fatality for this strain.
Slaughtering livestock to prevent the spread of infection, a process known as culling, is a common tactic to prevent the spread of bird flu among poultry.
Since the outbreak of H5N1 among poultry flocks started to ramp up in 2022, there have been approximately 82 million birds culled in the United States, contributing to the rise in egg prices in recent years.
Culling cattle, however, holds different economic consequences, as cows are more costly to raise and take much longer to develop into maturity than birds.
As of April, the economic effects of bird flu detected in cows have had a larger effect on the cattle futures market than that for milk and other dairy products.
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The USDA maintains that beef samples have returned negative results for virus particle testing. Pasteurized consumer milk has also not tested positive at significant rates for the virus.
In May, the USDA announced that the department would be working with state and local government partners to provide financial assistance to farmers in order to both limit the spread and make up for financial losses of infected animals.
